Homeless shelter planning to close

A Spokane men's homeless shelter is planning to close at the end of the month. Truth Ministries has been around for a decade but say times are tough and donations have dwindled over the years.

"You can't help but feel like a failure because I have tried everything to keep this going," Marty McKinney with Truth Ministries said.

Every night 50 men sleep at the facility. So where will they go? There are two other men's shelters in town: Union Gospel Mission and House of Charity. However, every night House of Charity is full.

"We will not go overflow. We just don't have the space for it," Ed McCarron with House of Charity said.

The shelter does have a standby list that men can put their name on each morning.

"Any open beds we start calling from the standby list at 8 p.m. and sometimes even number 20 gets in," McCarron said.

Over at Union Gospel Mission, they typically house 150 men a night.

"The extra numbers would add to our plate but it's not impossible to do," Dean Whisler with UGM said.

Whisler says the shelter can sleep 200 comfortably. They've never been at capacity before but they do operate a little differently than Truth Ministries. If a man's intoxicated, Truth will let them sleep there but UGM won't.

"The steady fast rule is we are a clean and sober facility mainly because we want them in here to make changes in their lives," Whisler said.

"The guys will get through it, the homeless are tough, they adapt they overcome," McKinney said.